Roving can



April. 8, 1969 E. c. GOODWIN, JR

ROVING CAN Filed Sept. 12. 1966 United States Patent Oice 3,437,232 ROVING CAN Elmer C. Goodwin, Jr., Greenville, SC, assignor to Spaulding Fibre Company, Inc., North Rochester, N.H.,

a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Sept. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 578,797 Int. Cl. B65d 25/10 US. Cl. 220-93 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A roving can comprising a cylindrical body having a portion thereof adjacent its open top inset inwardly and a top slidea-ble within the body and having a portion thereof projecting outwardly to engage said inset portion to limit upward movement of the top, and a spring urging said top upwardly.

The present invention relates to roving cans used in the textile industry for holding roving or sliver and more particularly to such roving cans of the piston type.

In roving cans of the piston type the roving can includes a roving can body of generally cylindrical shape, and a piston, or top, movable vertically within the body under the influence of a spring and adapted when in its uppermost position to have its upper end project upwardly out of the open top of the can body. In roving cans of this type it has been customary to connect the top to the bottom of the can by a string to limit the upward movement of the top under the influence of the spring, as in Patent 3,053,410. Such construction has a number of disadvantages. For instance the string is subject to breakage which may cause serious difiiculties and is subject to stretching so that there is risk that the top surface of the top may not be at the desired level when the top is in its uppermost position at the beginning of a filling operation.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved roving can of the piston type which is free from various disadvantages of prior constructions.

Another object is to provide a piston type roving can wherein the top surface of the top is always level when the top is in its uppermost position.

Another object is to provide a roving can wherein th top does not need to be tied down by a string and consequently the roving can is free from the disadvantages associated with the use of string for this purpose.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roving can wherein the upward travel of the top is definitely limited so that the exposed upper surface of the top when in its uppermost position is always in a fixed predetermined position, at the proper height and position under the coiler gears, so as to avoid damage to the gears and provide a better lay of sliver at the start.

A further object is to provide an improved roving can wherein the upper position of the top is uniform after each dotf, thus allowing uniformly close adjustment of the top to the tube gear without danger of damage to the gear and eliminating overthrow of sliver at the start up.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an illustrative embodiment wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which the single figure is a perspective view partly broken away.

The invention provides a roving can of the piston type comprising a generally cylindrical open topped body having a generally cylindrical side wall with a substantially continuous interior surface, a portion of the body adjacent its open top being inset inwardly of the interior surface of the body and wherein the top, which is adapted to slide within the body, has a generally cylindrical side wall 3,437,232 Patented Apr. 8, 1969 having a portion thereof adjacent its bottom projecting outwardly of the side wall and adapted to slide within the can body and to engage the said inset portion of the body to arrest upward movement of the top, together with a spring urging the top upwardly within the can body.

Referring now to the drawing, the roving can of the illustrative embodiment comprises a can body 2, having a generally cylindrical side wall 4 formed in this instance of vulcanized fiber. A kick band 6 of the same material tightly surrounds the bottom of the can body and extends upwardly along its side wall for a short distance, as shown, to provide additional strength in this location. The bottom end of the body is closed by a bottom 8 permanently secured to the lower end of the can body by a metal bottom ring 10.

The can body 2 is open at its top and the upper edge of the body is reinforced by a metal ring 12 spun in place thereon. The body 2 is provided with a portion adjacent its top inset inwardly of the interior surface of the body in the form of a head 14 formed in the ring 12, and extending entirely around the periphery of the top of the can body.

The roving can is provided with a top 16. The top 16 includes a substantially fiat exposed upper surface 18 and a generally cylindrical side wall 20 depending therefrom at its periphery. The side wall 20 has a portion 22 thereof adjacent its bottom projecting outwardly of the rest of the side wall 20. The projecting portion 22 is of greater diameter than the innermost part of the bead 14. The side wall 20 with its projecting portion 22 is adapted to slide vertically within the can body 2, but the projecting portion 22 will not move upwardly beyond the bead 14.

A compression spring 24 is disposed within the body 2 with its lower coil 26 lying on the bottom 8 and its upper coil 28 engaging the inside of the top surface 18 of the top 16. The spring 24 is of such construction as to permit the top 16 to descend under the weight of the sliver as it is coiled into the can to a position at or adjacent the bottom of the can and is sufiiciently extensible to continue to apply an upward force to the top 16 when it has moved upwardly into its topmost position within the can body 2.

The top 16 may be of metal or may be formed of a flexible, resilient plastic composition, for example, polyethylene, so that it can be temporarily deformed by hand to be inserted into the can body through its open top.

In operation, when the roving can is empty the top 16 is in its uppermost position, projecting from the open top of the can body, with the projecting portion 22 of the side wall 20 of the top in engagement with head 14. Such engagement assures that the exposed top surface 18 is exactly at the desired predetermined height and that it is level, so that the surface 18 always is at the proper height and position under the coiler gear at the beginning of a filling operation after each doif. Such assurance of a uniform predetermined maximum height of the surface 18 allows uniformly close adjustment of the relationship of surface 18 to the tube gear without risk of damage to the gear, minimizing overthrow of sliver at the start up of a filling operation. There is no risk of damage to the tube gear through breaking of a string holding the top within the can body.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the invention has provided a roving can of improved construction and free of disadvantages present in prior known roving cans.

I claim:

1. A roving can of the piston type for holding textile roving or sliver comprising an open-topped roving can body having a generally cylindrical side Wall with a substantially continuous interior surface, a portion of said body adjacent its top being inset inwardly of said interior surface, a roving can top having a generally cylindrical side wall, the entire roving can top being adapted to slide within said body, a compression spring engaging said top and said body and urging said top upwardly within said body, said side wall of the top having a portion thereof ajacent its bottom projecting outward- 1y of the side wall and adapted to slide within said body and to engage said inset portion of said body to arrest upward movement of said top under the influence of said spring and to maintain said top, when in such arrested position, at a predetermined height and position, one of said portions being flexible and deformable so that said top can be inserted in said body through the open top of said body.

2. A roving can in accordance with claim 1 wherein 4 said flexible portion is a resilient plastic composition and comprises the side wall of said top.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,659,912 2/1928 Geake. 2,251,876 8/1941 Gibbs 22093 XR 2,969,161 1/1961 McCullooh 215-52 XR 3,302,955 2/1967 Witzgall 22093 XR 3,212,667 10/1965 Kleist et a1. 22093 3,326,408 6/1967 Ringlen 22060 FOREIGN PATENTS 401,522. 9/ 1924 Germany.

RALPHAEL H. SCHWARTZ, Primary Examiner. 

